Quick Links - Poets.org

follow poets.org

Search form

The Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting American poets. For over three generations, the Academy has connected millions of people to great poetry through programs such as National Poetry Month, the largest literary celebration in the world; Poets.org, the Academy’s popular website; American Poets, a biannual literary journal; and an annual series of poetry readings and special events. Since its founding, the Academy has awarded more money to poets than any other organization.

occasions

White T-shirt

Lewis Ellingham

I caught sight of it at a bus stop:a white T-shirt, though it was partly covered by the turning form of a lanky youth massed with other human forms intent upon boarding the bus on which I was riding, tucked in a corner seat on the last row of seats on the bus, the right side, sheltered, watching the surge as it entered the double rear doors that soon welcomed as a bottleneck the half dozen new passengers — tall, he walked back along the aisle until he stood maybe a dozen feet from me, holding a rail with one hand (the right), the other arm dangling, his hips relaxed,every color — hair, eyebrows, lashes, half-day beard shadow, heavy cotton pants, ajacket dangling from the dangling left arm — black except for his white T-shirt, unornamented, the folds from his twist as he stood, deep drapery folds, the cotton heavier than ordinary for such a garment, the trim at waist and short sleeves the same material rolled, eye-catching for its clean bright whiteness, hinting at his beauty, and beautiful in its self: a white T-shirt, an object, he would move slightly, the creases deepen as the twist deepened slightly — at Castro, Market and 17th streets he got off, many did, many boarded, his eyes, a light brown, met mine through the bus window for a moment, the T-shirt at his neck white, an object still

About this poem:"The poem 'White T-shirt' records a San Francisco bus trip returning homeward from a cancer radiation treatment session at U. C. Hospital (Mt. Zion) mid-December 2012. I'd been writing poems 'about objects' for a month or so. The setting collected and intensified as I sat on the bus, and I wrote the poem immediately upon arriving home."